Vacuum cleaner



Sept. 7, 1954 o. M. ANDERSON VACUUM CLEANER 3 snets-sheet 1 Filed Feb. 27, 1952 'Sept 7,1954 o. M. A NnRsoN I VACUUM CLEANER,

Filed Feb. 27, .1952

- A :inventor OCfAR M ANDERSON Sept. 7, 1954 o. Mf ANDERSON vAUUu CLEANER 5 Sheets-#Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 27, 1952 Snnentor OSCAR M ANDEIQON Gttomegs Patented Sept. 7, 1954 VACUUM CLEANER Oscar M. Anderson, New Britain, Conn., assignor to Landers, Frary & Clark, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application February 27, 1952, Serial No. 273,679

(Cl. 18S-37) 7 Claims.

This invention relates generally to vacuum cleaners and more particularly to an improved construction for vacuum cleaners of the tank type-r having many advantages in manufacture and use. v

It is the general aim of the invention to provide a sturdy, lightwight, ltank-type vacuum cleaner of superior operating characteristics which may be simply rand economically fabricated and assembled, which is compact in size and which functions in an improved and efficient manner and includes improved air flow characteristics enhancing the utility of the cleaner.

A more specic aim of the invention is to provide a vacuum Vcleaner of the tank type in which the iilter section and motor compartment are vertically arranged in side-by-side relationship to form-a compact machine having improved performance characteristics and in which novel and improved air flow control means are incorporated to enhancethe utility of the cleaner. Included this aim'is the object of providing a tank type cleaner from which the dust bag may be vertically' f arranged and yet which is compact and stable in operation, simple in design, and efficient in yoperation. Y f

Afurther object of the invention is to provide a vacuum cleaner of the type referred to in which the ow of air is conducted in a manner whichl will materially diminish the noise of operation ofthe clea'ner and which includes manually adjustable means operable to vary the air flow path to suit the cleaner to the particular use' or desired operation.

Another objectof the-invention is to provide a vacuum lcleaner of large cleaning capacity, although small -in size, which may employ an electric driving motor of relatively large rating under efficient operating conditions, particularly from the standpoint of temperature.

AOther objects will be `in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features lof construction, combination ofelements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplie'd in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view of a vacuum cleaner embodying the present f invention. f

Fig. 2is a plan view of the cleaner with the top Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 and illustrating amodied yconstruction of the cleaner.

As shown in the drawings, the operating elements of the cleaner are disposed within a generally rectangular box-like sheet metal housing I0 which for convenience in manufacture may comprise an upper shell or section II, a lower shell or section I2, and a base 22. The upper and lower housing sections are provided with cooperating peripheral flanges I3 and I4, respectively, which are connected together as by screws I5. A channeled strip I6 of resilient material such as rubber or plastic surrounds the interconnected flanges to provide a bumper for the cleaner and cover the joint between interconnected sections of the housing.

The bottom wall I'I of the lower section I2 is provided with a pair of side-by-side openings I8 and I9 over which a dust separating unit indicated generally by the reference numeral 20 and a motor-fan unit 2I are located, respectively, in vertical side-by-side relation. The bottom wall II of section I2 forms a platform or false bottom for the housing, the section I2 being supported by the base 22 which has a generally vertical peripheral wall 23 telescopically receiving the lower peripheral portion of the section I2 as indicated at 24. The wall 23 is welded or otherwise secured in an air tight manner .to the bottom portion of the section or shell I2 and the bottom wall 25 of the base being in spaced relation to the bottom wall I'I defines a compartment 26 therebetween which provides a wide air passageway of low pressure drop or air flow resistance interconnecting the openings I8 and I9 in the wall I1 of the housing. Reenforcing brackets 21 are disposed centrally of the housing to main tain the spaced relation between the bottom I'I of section I 2- and the bottom wall 25 of the base. The'base is provided with a plurality of downwardly struck sections 28 which act as runners or glides to support the cleaner on the floor or other surface.

The top of the housing is provided with a handle 29 above the motor-fan unit 2I and is,

provided with a hinged cover 30 over the dust separating unit 2|) to give ready access to said unit. The cover 30 closes a circular opening 3I in the top of the housing, and a manually operable latch 32 is provided to release the cover so that the same can be swung aside.

The dust separating unit 20 is disposed within the circular opening 3I and comprisesa paper lter bag 33 supported from a ring 34 within a cloth lter bag 35 supported from a ring 36.

The ring 36 has an outwardly directed flange 3'I on which the ring 34 rests and the rings are sup'- ported by the top edge of a generally cylindrical container 36. The container 33 is supported on rubber rings 39 and secured as by screws 40 `to the bottom wall of the housing so as to overlie the opening I8 therein. The bottom wall 4I of the container vis perforate to accommodate the passage of air and a filter pad 42 of brous -material or the like is disposed within the container in spaced relation to the bottom wall thereof.

It Will be understood from the foregoing. de-.

scription that if the motor-fan unit 2| is operated to withdraw air from thecompartment 26, air will be drawn through the-dust separating unit 20 through the filter pad 42 and perforated` bottom wall of the containerY into the compartment 26. The cover is provided with an angularly disposed air inlet opening and fitting'dwhich accommodates the usual hose or tube (not shown) which carries the dust collecting vacuum nozzle or other accessory; As the airzis'drawn through the fitting into the lter unit'26, the

paper and cloth dust separating bags 33 and 35V and the lter pad 42 remove the dust from the air `stream-before the air is drawn into the motorfan unit.

The motor-fan unit includes a conventionalI electric :.motor 5t electrically connected to theterminals-.l `and arranged `to be operated by a switch 52. The motor. 50 has a vertically `arranged ldrive shaft 53 to which the fan blades- Ellware secured adjacent andA above the opening.

I9; The'motor and fan unit are supported within a .casing which. includes thefupper .and lower members 55 and 56, respectively, the member 56 having an opening. 5l concentrically Varranged with the vfan and disposed concentrically to the opening ISinfthe bottom wall .ofthe housing. A.vibration. damping mounting for the `motor fanunit is included in the construction and comprises the .rubberv ring 66: which is secured as. by'. rivets. Sli tothe 'lower section of the motor-.fan casing and as by'screws'z .to the bottom. wall ofi the housing.` An inverted cup-shaped housing- 63 :surrounds .the motor-fan unit casing in spaced:V relationthereto and is. securedyby. the screws.I 62to the. rubber ring- @Stat .the bottom wall` I'II` ofy sectionIZ. A'clothi'hood orfcover 64 is disposed over the motor-fan-un-it Within the hous-: ingj63 .to collect anydust present in theair drawnI through the motor-fan unit and to vdiminish the.

operating; sounds of :saiclunitA In theembodiment :shown in. Figs. 1 and 2 of.

thedrawings, the upper portion of thev container- 63is provided with `a plurality (ve shown) of'- openingsA 65 through which. the air drawn by the" motor-fan unit may be released. The air released through the openings 65 is received in thev space-withinfthe-housing I0 exteriorally'of thel Both longitudinal sides' of the housing I0 are provided with a large number of container 63.

elongated slots 66 which may be covered in. teriorally by porous sound absorbing and dust ltering pads 6l'.

Accordingly, the` air drawnv by, the motor-fan unit from the dust separatingI unit and` compartment through passageway 26 is expelled through the motor 50and container:

thereby reducing the noise level accompanying said discharge.

In the event that it is desired to use the vacuum cleaner as a blower, means are provided for connecting a blower attachment and for closing on the openings 65 in the casing 63 which normally release the air to the interior of the housing I0. Said means includes a cover`I0 rotatably mounted on the topfof the container 63.l Thecover has a plurality of openings 'II which may be rotated into registry with the container openings 65 during normal operation of the cleaner and the cover is provided with a manually operable handle1l2:exten'dingthrough an opening 13 at the side ofithe housing Ill so that the cover can be rotated to'a'positi'on wherein the container openings 65 arefclosed.` Depending downwardly from the handle 'I2 is a plate 'I4 which is constructed and arranged to selectively close or open a conventional blower hose tting I5 secured in the side of the container 63 in registry-with an open@ ingy 76 in lthewsde vof the .housing I 02A., Thev ar- 1 rangement is-such that when; thecover10-is inw positionlfor uncovering;I the container open-ings.,4 65 the plate Id is in obstructing positionrelaffv tive to ythe'fitting. I5 and' when thefcoveri-ID :is turned'. to -closev thee openings 65, the= plate is moved to. non-obstructing position.v permitting-g; the coupling of a blower hose-:to the lfitting, In.vr the last mentioned Iposition' ofthe. cover, and; plate, the air dravvnby thecmotor-faneunit .willf of coursebe-:released through the-fitting 15J,

A generally circular'baille 'II ispreferably-(sewV curedto` the top of thecover member-to `direct or deflect airreleased-through theopens.` ings `65- outwardly,y and downwardly; within; the z housing IB tto avoid turbulence-andprevent the.;V

air which normally becomesheatedduringits passage through motor 56 from impinginggdiY rectly against the .topgof fthe-` housing; Iqwhich might otherwise causey the=-top of thenhousing i, I 0" and the-.attached handle 29 fto. become-undulyheated.

In Fig. 3 thereI is illustrated-a modi-tied zand.. simplifiedconstructionV of the'vacuum cleaner:

tion with .the first form ofvithe invention,.and'theer motor-fan unit and the'l dustv separating unitsr enclosed within the.- housingaref-identical; vvitlrlv the: units Iutilized in xthez'frst ,described-.embodi'-, ment. The air vpassageway or `compartment f im:l terconnecting f the uni-tsfis also identical Itofthle passageway utilized4 in. the first .described .-.cone struction,. but the .meansx utilized-,to .Ycontrol@the-fr4 flow path of airpassing :through .the.;motor;fan:, unit is modied.

In the modiedornr, thegfmotorffan unitiiss enclosed in spaced relation by aminvertediicupsshapedih'ousingl mountedfsimilarly to :the iirst described.r housing.l 63'il butaformedzi;without? airrV release openings except for the air outletr-:opena ing- 82.. Theaair r outlet 1. opening 82 fiszprovide'd with a hose tting.;83. inf registryz-rwithriarr outlets,

84 in the end of the casing 80.

As will be apparent from' the foregoingidev scription and from Fig. 3 of the drawings, the air drawn by the motor-fan unit and expelled through the motor to the interior of housing 8| all isr released through outlet 82 and fitting 83..

Accordingly, in this modification, it is not necessary to provide the housing 80 with air-release slots as in the first described embodiment.

It has been found thatas a result of the conis substantially reduced, the removal of dirt from the, air is efficient, and the vertical side-by-sde arrangement of the motor-fan and dust separating units with a wide passageway therebetween permits efcient functioning of the various elements. ple to handle and such steps as the removal and Furthermore, the cleaner is siminsertion of the dust bag or connection and disconnection of the attachments are easy and simple to carry out. l

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparentlywidely diierent embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used inthe following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vacuum cleaner of the tank type, the combination comprising an outer housing, a transverse wall spaced from the bottom of the housing and having a pair of side-by-side openings, said Wall and the bottom of the housing forming a wide substantially unrestricted air passageway between the openings, a first vertiy vcally arranged compartment over one of said openings within and spaced laterally from the outer housing, a dust separating bag positioned in said first compartment, the outer housing having an opening registering with the first compartment for permitting vertical removal and insertion of the bag, a closure member having hose attaching means for said compartment, a second vertically arranged compartment over the second of said openings within and spaced laterally from the outer housing, a fan and driving motor disposed in the second compartment with the fan in communication with the opening and with the motor arranged to receive the air from the fan, vand means for releasing air from the second compartment.

2. In a vacuum cleaner of the tank type, the combination comprising a generally rectangular outer housing, a pair of upright side-by-side cylindrical compartments within and laterally spaced from said housing, a platform spaced from the bottom of the housing and forming an enclosed wide air passageway therewith between the bottoms of the compartments, a dust separating bag positioned in one compartment, opening means in the outer housing to permit vertical insertion and removal of the bag, a fan assembly and a motor for driving same contained in the second ycompartment with the axis thereof vertically arranged, means in the upper end of the. second compartment forming a passagewayfor releasing air from the second compartment to the space interior of the housing but exterior to the compartments, and means forming a plurality of side-by-side air outlet openings in the side wall of the outer housing adjacent the bottom thereof for dispersing the air throughout a relatively large area.

3. Ina vacuum cleaner of the tank type,'the combination comprising an outer housing, a pair of vertical side-by-side compartments within and laterally spaced from said housing, a platform spaced from the bottom of the housing and forming an enclosed wide air passageway therewith between thebottoms of the compartments, a dust separating bag positioned in one` compartment f and depending from the upper end thereof, opening means in the outer housing to permit vertical insertion and removal of the bag, a fan assembly and a motor for driving same contained in the second compartment with the axis thereof vertically arranged, means in the upper end of the lsecond compartment for releasing air from the second compartment to the space interior of the housing but exterior to the compartments, a

baille on the second compartment for directing...

air from the compartment away from the top of the housing, and means forming a plurality of openings in the side wall of the outer housing for dispersing air from said space over a relatively large area.

4. Ina vacuum cleaner of the tank type, the combination comprising an outer housing, a pair` of upright side-by-side compartments within and laterally spaced from said housing, a platform spaced from the bottom of the housing and forming an enclosed wide air passageway therewith between the bottoms of the compartments, a dust separating bag positioned in one of the compartments, opening means in the outer housing to permit vertical insertion and removal of the bag, a fan assembly and a motor for driving same contained in the second compartment with the axis thereof vertically arranged, said fan assembly being disposed adjacent said air passageway and said motor being disposed above the fan assembly but spaced from the interior surface of the second compartment, means in the upper end of the second compartment for releasing air from the second compartment to the space interior of the housing but exterior of the compartments, means forming a plurality of air dispersing openings in the side wall of the outer housing for dispersing air from said space over a relatively large area. and a porous pad covering said dispersing openings.

5. In a vacuum cleaner of the tank type, the combination comprising a pair of side-by-side compartments, an outer housing surrounding said compartments and providing an enclosed space therebetween, means forming a plurality of air dispersing outlets in the housing, means forming an enclosed air passage between the compartments, a dust separating bag positioned in one of the compartments, a generally vertically arranged fan assembly and a motor for driving same contained in the second of the compartments, means providing a horizontal opening inA the housing and an opening in the second compartment registering therewith for receiving a aessaa:

compartment andethefspace withirn',thei-'housingf.i

but exterior of-Lthe compartments, a;closure ber .for isaidJair passageway .m'ovable utowardtanda; away: from; .closing, 1 position;k vandr ant operating.' lever. connected: to saidi baiiie sand. said .closuref member extending through. afslotv in. saidahousingi; toI the 1exterior thereof .for :selectively setting the J bafeiand closure member alteri'iatelyinfobstruct-2 ingifposition.

6. In a vacuum cleaner of the tank type, the..

combination-1:comprising'aanpair of upright 4Sicile-- bysside-fcylinc'lricalcompartments;aniouter hous-fl ingasurrounding 'saidfcompartments and provid# v ingf anenclosedI space therebetweem said housing: having1a'plura1itypf air 'dispersngg outlets Vinthe e sidefthereof; a` platform spaced from'- the4 bottom'Vw of:v the housingzand 4formingan i enclosed air passagewayybetweenf the bottoms yof: the coinpartv mentsaz-dust. separatingl bag disposed in one of*y `20, insertable therein, a. generally vertically ,arranged the :compartments andf vertically removable and fanfassemblyjand amotor forv driving same con` taineduinthesecond compartment, a capion; said second Vcompartment having an air outlet openff ing therein for releasing air `vtofthe'space-interior` offithehousing-but 4exterior-of the compartment, a ,platewturnably mounted 'on thecap.; for movement toward and `away 'from` a position obstructin'grsaid airl outlet opening;taihandleattacloedto-Y theiplate and extending Voutwardly `through a slot in. the :housing topermit manual: setting :oi the plate,` means forminga-side' opening inthe hous-- ing and a side opening in the second compartment registering therewith" for v receiving a hose 'coupling, and a baffle ldepemiing from said handle for movement to'anposition between the'last named openings-when the-plate .is moved -to- Vnon-ob structinggpositionr and :away from saidv position. when,l theplate is moved to obstructingposition.

7 In: az-vacuumV cleaner c ofy thet tank` type, -the combinati'onz'comprisingA :a pair fofzupright. side bye/side.:cylindricalmompartmenta; an vouter hous-A ingesurroundingaid:compartments andprovide.

ingi'amenclosedspaceltherebetween, means form.`

l inga pluralityiof air di'spersing'outlets inthe side ofthe housing; azporousapad :covering saidicutlets, a :.plattormzzwithin .the :housing :supporting: ysaid cylindricali; compartments and f. having: means forming s anr. enclosed :air: i passageway therebe- 1 tween; azidusts separating :bag disposed .in Y one ci' theecompartments; opening i meanszeintlthe ioute'r." housing to Avpermit yerticalzinsertion and removal.4 ofthe bag,=fa ianfassembly anda motor for drivingz' samerV contained: ini: the f-second '.compartment, al

2 cap'nnisaidsecond:eompartmentfhavingianopen# ingsifor releasing air.from.1the fseoond compartmentv to i the espace" :interior of the housing fbutv 1 exterior toethe compartment, -al'closure :member for@saidLopeninggmovable to andfaway ,from ob- A'structingfpositionmeans forming.` a side openingint the; hbusingf'andsecond;compartment. for -receivingaihose' tooupling;1a;closure member for said sidefopenmgmovable Vtoi `and away 4from .obstructing.:,position andca :pivotallyi-mounted handle efr-1 ltending outwardly through a slotlinlthezhous.`

ing; and .gconnectedztofsaid :"fclosure members for moving .i the members'f'alternately to obstructing r 2 positonr'y Referen'eesffCitedfin :the lefof 4this patent-` U'NITED' STATES PATENTS 

